Escape (78 page)

“Just dialing up the inertial dampeners. Wouldn't want to end up pasted to the viewport like insects.”

Another burst of static that could have been a laugh. “Fair enough. I'll guide you in to the base, so keep your engines offline.”

“Will do.” Kieran hesitated over his next words, wondering how the woman would take them. He decided his curiosity was unlikely to do any harm, and asked, “What's your name?”

“Getting friendly now, aren't we? My call sign is Catchya, and that's all you're getting out of me until I've decided whether you're friend or foe. See you on the other side of the hangar deck. Catchya out.”

Kieran ended the comm from his side and turned to Jilly with a smile. “Well, she sounds interesting.”

Jilly's expression, by contrast, was troubled. “Kieran
 
.
 
.
 
.
”

His smile faded at her tone. “Yes?”

“I know they're pirates, but
 
.
 
.
 
.
” She looked out the viewport, as if toward the pirate base, but there was still nothing to see but nebulous gas. Her eyes found his once more. “How can we inflict ourselves upon them?”

Kieran shook his head. “You just said it. They're pirates. Thieves, murderers, scum. If there's anyone I'd inflict myself upon, it's them.”

“You're justifying yourself. What if they're actually good people? Or worse, what if we infect them, and then they come into contact with Acasians and the virus spreads out of control from there? Our very presence in this region of space is a risk. Not just to the pirates, but to everyone.”

Kieran frowned. “Not too long ago you were ready to inflict yourself upon the Acasians, and now you won't even risk infecting pirates? I can't keep up with you!”

“That was when it seemed like the Acasians were going to be infected whether we sacrificed ourselves or not, now
 
.
 
.
 
.
”

“We don't know what they did with the cruiser. Those creatures might have found a way to discredit us, or elude whatever tests were conducted for nano viruses. But if it makes you feel better, we'll find a way to leave the pirate base as soon as we can.” Kieran watched Jilly chewing her lower lip, clearly uncertain what to do, and he added, “We'll wear flight gloves at all times and studiously avoid contact with any of the pirates.”

He watched her red eyes brighten. “You think that will work?”

Kieran shrugged. “I can't be positive, but I think it should. Ferrel and I observed that the original spreaders of the virus preferred handshakes as a method of infecting others, so if we avoid direct contact, it's very likely that we won't infect anyone else.”

Jilly turned away from him, her mind spinning in agonizing circles. She gazed out the forward viewport, wondering whether they could take the risk of infecting the pirates just to save themselves, or if the nobler, better thing would be to jettison themselves from the airlock before they reached the station.

As if he knew what she was thinking, Kieran said, “Jilly, the odds of us finding these pirates on a blind TLS jump are too infinitesimal to calculate. Maybe it's fate that we found them. After all, we're among the very few people who actually know enough about the virus to fight it. Maybe the Elementals are looking after us.”

Jilly sent him an admonishing look. “Don't get religious with me, Kieran. Sometimes an extraordinary coincidence is just that
—
extraordinary coincidence.”

“So, what, then? You want us to kill ourselves to prevent a bunch of lowlifes from becoming monsters? I doubt they'd notice the transition!”

Jilly's mouth quirked up in a sardonic smile. “No. I'm just saying we need to be careful. We'll wear the gloves, hopefully that will save them, but I'm actually more worried about us.”

“Us?”

“You heard what Gallian said. That the hunger we feel can only be satiated by one thing. That we won't change forms until we're presented with the catalyst
—
human flesh.”

Kieran's eyes widened in sudden comprehension. “I see. Do you think he was telling the truth?”

Jilly gave a hopeless sigh. “He had no reason to lie.”

Kieran looked away, troubled, just in time to see a large asteroid swell out of the red and green nebula. As they drew closer, they noted a yawning hangar bay and a few tall spires protruding from the rock. The base had obviously been built beneath the surface as much to conceal it from detection as to shield it from the deadly radiation of the nearby blackholes. It truly was a miracle that they'd found the base. If they hadn't found it they'd have been stranded, and the odds against them randomly stumbling across it were astronomical, but Jilly's cautionary words had set his mind to wonder: perhaps it would have been better if they'd emerged from TLS past the event horizon of a black hole.

“I'm going to get us some gloves,” Kieran said, levering himself out of the flight chair and making his way aft.

Chapter 58

K
ieran and Jilly descended the boarding ramp from their shuttle to meet a tall woman with fiery red hair and a pleasantly freckled face. She extended a hand to Kieran and smiled warmly at them. Kieran hesitated briefly before his black-gloved hand found hers for a tentative handshake. Hardly the type of greeting Kieran expected from a pirate.

“Welcome to
Greciala's Rest.
I'm Catchya,” the woman said, then she frowned abruptly and pointed with her free hand to Kieran. “What's wrong with your eyes?”

“Ocular implants. They help us to see in the dark,” Kieran replied.

Catchya's gaze slid sideways to Jilly, noting her similarly glowing red eyes. “I see
 
.
 
.
 
.
” Catchya said.

Kieran nodded and let go of her hand, at which point Catchya turned and shook hands with Jilly, whose hands were likewise gloved.

So far so good,
Kieran thought. The ever-present need still burned inside him, but coming in contact with an uninfected human had not turned him into a slavering monster as Gallian had predicted.

“Come,” Catchya said, turning to gesture toward the half-empty hangar bay. “The Guardian is waiting to meet you.”

“The Guardian?” Kieran asked as they followed Catchya through the hangar.

“An affectation from a previous life. She's no longer a guardian, but she retains her title among us.”

“I see. And what is a Guardian exactly?”

“The Guardians are a paramilitary group on Acasia. The nearest equivalent would be a Union Enforcer, I suppose.”

“Ah,” Kieran nodded distractedly, his eyes drawn around the room by the hostile glares that periodically turned his way. Apparently, they'd run into the only friendly pirate in the lot when they'd stumbled across Catchya.

“Don't mind them,” she said, waving her hand dismisively toward the other pirates. “They don't like strangers around here, but they'll warm up to you once the Guardian gives you her stamp of approval.”

“She's a good judge of character then?” Jilly asked.

Catchya sent a wry grin over her shoulder. “The best.”

* * *

“S
he's an AI?!” Kieran asked, turning incredulously from the hologram shimmering in the air before the digital matrix.

It was the hologram who answered him: “Not exactly. I retain all the knowledge and memories of my former self. In every sense that matters I am Graciala, I merely lack the body I once had to encapsulate myself.”

Kieran traded a quick glance with Jilly, and then turned back to the hologram. “So you're the leader of this group?”

“That's correct.”

“Interesting.”

“Catchya tells me that you wish to join us. Has she told you what we stand for?”

Kieran shook his head. “We just need a place to hide from the Acasians.”

“And why are they after you?”

“We had a misunderstanding with them,” Jilly said. “And they are overzealous about protecting their quarantine.”

“Ah, yes, the quarantine. Yet another Acasian ploy to regulate trade and maximize their profits. Did you know that Acasia is the Union's largest supplier of class A reactor fuel?”

Kieran blinked. “No, I didn't know that.”

“Few people do. Regardless, if they continue to use the so called plague in the rest of the galaxy as an excuse to isolate themselves from trade, the Imperator will be forced to send a fleet to take control of fuel mining operations. I suspect our beloved High Guardian has not concieved of that possibility.”

“Probably not.”

“Our mission here is to force the Acasians to dismantle their unlawful military dictatorship and once again allow democratic elections. We were patient at first, content to utilize peaceful methods of protest, but eventually the High Guardian squashed even that opposition, leaving us no choice but to resort to other methods.”

“Such as?” Jilly asked.

The hologram of Graciala spread her wiry arms, and the black tunic she wore rippled across her broad shoulders. “All freedom fighters must eventually resort to violence, but we limit our attacks to military and government targets.”

“I see.”

“Still want to join us?”

Kieran answered with a broad smile. “Sounds like a good cause if ever I heard one.”

“Excellent. Catchya, you will show our newest members to one of our empty rooms.” The woman in the hologram hesitated, as if something had just occured to her. “Am I correct in assuming that you two are
 
.
 
.
 
.
together?
”

Jilly blushed, and Kieran merely nodded.

“Good,” Graciala replied. “We are short of space.”

* * *

That night, Kieran lay wide awake in his bunk. Jilly was stirring restlessly above him, similarly sleepless. They were alive, but far from well. A nano virus was raging through their bodies, and if Gallian could be trusted, they were already too far gone to cure. There was nothing left for them to do, but adapt to their new selves. And that was becoming increasingly difficult. He'd tried to deny it, to ignore it, to push it below the surface of his awareness, but it forcing its way back into his thoughts, stronger than ever.

Gallian was right. Being around humans again was doing something to him. He could feel himself burning from within, like every nerve ending was on fire. The feeling of discomfort had grown steadily stronger ever since landing on
Graciala's Rest,
and now it was so strong that he couldn't sleep.

With a frustrated sigh, Kieran launched himself out of bed and began pacing around the room. Jilly sat up to watch him, her face sticken in the darkness, her eyes glowing brightly.

“Kieran,” she said.

He looked up from pacing the room, his face twisted in agony. “What?”

“We need to leave.”

He shook his head. “We can't.”

“If we stay, I'm afraid of what might happen
.
 
.
 
.
 
.
” Her voice trailed off, and then she continued in a whisper: “of what I might
do
.”

Kieran shook his head vigorously, trying to banish the thoughts which even that subtle implication of intent brought to mind. “There's no where for us to go!”

“Yes there is. We can go back. I saw some of the ships in the hangar. One of them was a long-distance freighter. We could take that and jump back to Union space.”

Kieran was silent for a long time while he continued to pace around the room.

“Kieran?”

“I'm going to go eat something.”

“It won't help.”

He met her eyes with blazing fury. “It can't hurt! Are you coming or not?”

Jilly frowned. “If it doesn't help, will you agree to leave?”

“Yes. Fine. Whatever.” Kieran bent to pick up his flight suit and tossed Jilly's up to her. “Let's go.”

* * *

Catchya sat in the mess hall, catching a quick meal with her squadron before they launched for Acasia. They'd received word from one of their informants that a group of supply ships were launching at 0400 from the planet to service the Acasian defense fleet.

Toying with her plate of boiled, reconstituted vegetables and sliced grasser meat in an insipid yellow sauce, Catchya considered that if they had any luck at all, one of the ships would be carrying foodstuffs to resupply their dwindling stockpiles.

The buzz of conversations around her flowed into a familiar rythym of jokes and laughter that, in her tired state, were almost enough to lull her to sleep. And just as her head began to nod dangerously toward her plate of unappetizing food, the conversations abruptly ceased, and she looked up, startled awake by the sudden silence.